NATCHEZ &045; A malfunction in telephone systems used by many Natchez businesses has been corrected, a spokesman for BellSouth said Tuesday.

Technicians figured out the problem and had it corrected by 9 p.m. Monday, said Rick Stewart, regional manager for BellSouth.

&uot;What we discovered was a program issue,&uot; Stewart said.

Software that was designed to send a call to a second or third number if the main business number was busy did not work correctly, Stewart said.

The problem, found only in the Natchez area, came on the day when all calls changed from seven digits to 10 digits, requiring the 601 area code even for local calls.

&uot;Someone would call the first number, and the second number had not been updated,&uot; Stewart said. At that point, the caller heard the recording that asked for 10 digits even though the caller had made the call correctly.

The only other problems on Monday included an overload of seven-digit calls, Stewart said.

&uot;There is still monitoring going on, and I have not heard of any overloads today,&uot; he said Tuesday. &uot;Things seem to be working well now.&uot;

We still ask people to be aware of the change.&uot;

He urged telephone customers to check all equipment that might have speed dialing or programs that require updating to the 10-digit system.